Shares for sale in bid to reopen Chedburgh's Marquis Cornwallis pub

Villagers in Chedburgh hoping to save their pub are being invited to purchase shares in the campaign to buy it.

Chedburgh Marquis Community Hub Ltd (CMCH) wants to buy the former Marquis Cornwallis pub, which closed two years ago, with the aim of reopening.

Now, CMCH is holding a ‘Marquis in Exile’ night on Friday to launch its community share issue initiative.

The shares, costing £50 each, will raise funds to buy and renovate the pub building and land.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure the future of the Marquis Cornwallis and make it into a truly useful and welcoming community hub,” said XJean Dillon, of CMCH.

The village’s only remaining services are a village hall and church.

A planning application to convert the former pub, which is listed as an asset of community value, into a house was refused by St Edmundsbury Borough Council in August.

The Marquis in Exile night, with bar, music, food and raffle, is at the Erskine Centre, Chedburgh, from 7.30pm on October 19.

For information, go to www.savethemarquis.co.uk